Researchers have found a way to graft cacao plants to boost their yields while preserving biodiversity.
University of Göttingen scientists led an international team to enhance the growth of cacao trees. The researchers published their findings in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology to address the challenge of yield gaps in tropical commodity production. They acknowledged the difficulty of growing profitable tree cash crops without sacrificing biodiversity or perpetuating deforestation and high poverty levels.
Cocoa beans from cacao trees are used to make chocolate, cocoa butter, and natural medicines. Cacao is also used for cultural and ceremonial purposes.
To conduct their study, the researchers traveled to Peru to monitor tree pods in nine organic agroforests. They compared grafted and non-grafted trees to assess the differences between freshly grafted cacao and full-grown cacao trees.
Grafting is a technique for combining parts of two or more plants of the same genus. It typically involves merging one plant's rootstock with another plant's young shoot. The goal of grafting is to strengthen plants and improve yields.
"Cacao grafting increased yields after 2 years by an average of 45% more than adjacent non-grafted trees," the researchers wrote. "Compared to non-grafted trees, arthropod abundance was 25% lower 3 months after grafting and 12% lower after 6 months, indicating a recovery of arthropod communities shortly after grafting."
These results led the researchers to conclude that grafting effectively revives unproductive cacao trees, thereby potentially boosting farmers' incomes and reducing deforestation.
This is encouraging news for people who work in the cacao industry, love chocolate, or otherwise use cacao. By using the innovative technique of cacao grafting to rejuvenate old trees, farmers can boost their crop yields without sacrificing the genetic diversity of the plants.
Other researchers have been working on making cacao trees more resilient to disease and drought to secure future chocolate production. Meanwhile, cocoa byproducts are being used as sustainable fertilizers and ingredients to make concrete.
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The University of Göttingen research team offered encouragement that its cocoa grafting technique can support tropical agricultural sustainability with an approach that practitioners and policymakers can adopt into their strategies. The researchers shared that additional studies are needed to build upon their work to quantify cacao grafting benefits at different scales and integrate this management strategy.
Carolina Ocampo-Ariza, who led the research, said: "This is great news for the production of fine flavor cocoa. It shows the value of grafting as a method to improve yields in a short time."
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